The Four Winds

What do you think it means in Matt. 24:31, and Revelation 7:1, when it speaks of “the four winds’ of the earth? The angels gather the elect from the four winds and from heaven. And the four angels at the four corners of the earth will hold back the four winds. What do you think is meant by ‘the four winds?’ And, more importantly, why would the elect be in those four winds?

A

The phrase “four winds” appears nine times in the Bible. The first one is in Jeremiah 49:36 where we can see what the phrase is meant to convey. It says the four winds come from the four quarters of the heavens. In other words, from every direction on the compass. This is made clear in Matt. 24:31 by the addition of the phrase “from one end of the heavens to the other.” It doesn’t mean the elect are in the four winds but that they are all over the heavens. In Rev. 7:1 it means the angels are preventing the wind from blowing in any direction. The air will be perfectly still.

About Grace thru Faith

Jack Kelley published over 9,000 Bible Study resources here from 1999, until the Lord called him home in the fall of 2015. His teachings made the Bible clear and easy to understand, and impacted millions of lives. He is the author of all the teachings here, and all materials are available free of charge! His wife Samantha maintains this site as well as their missionary outreaches.